Rubbish Inventions of the Modern World: Sat Nav

In the second part of this series designed to make sure you don't buy the wrong thing this Christmas, we take a look at a device that has seen a huge boom in the past two years: Satellite Navigation.



Sat Nav systems have really taken off, fuelled entirely by huge price reductions. Three years ago, I was happily selling GPS systems at upwards of £800 and more often than not, topping a grand. Today, you could get a better spec system from Aldi for about £90.

Anyone who works on the road will have one of these things stuck to their windscreens, haulers, couriers, mini-cab drivers, reps, the emergency services, even ice-cream men have been seen tapping away at the touch screen menus. Heck, even I've got one.

But why?

We believe that they get us from A-B with minimal fuss, but do they? Well no, no and no it would appear. All they seem to do is attract the local underclass to your vehicle.

The pro argument is that they guide you around unfamiliar areas and in fairness, when they arEn't taking you up some back-alley in Wales, they can do that. However, try using them in a City Centre and they aren't much cop at all. Half the problem of city driving is negotiating the multitude of one-way systems and performing countless lane changes. Not once will a Sat Nav even give you an incling of which lane to take, that's if you've still got a reception in the first place.
There's also those people who use them purely in their home town, not realising that it's more than likely costing them money in fuel as it finds yet another cack-handed way to get you to the local supermarket. They are certainly no substitute for local knowledge.

So for those of you browsing Currys this December for that perfect gift, turn away from Satellite Navigation.